I Think She Likes Me
by Mac-alicious
Summary: Insights into the relationship between Edwin and Lizzie. Five Word inspired drabbles per chapter. Not interconnected.
1. A Dead Giveaway

Helping

**A/N: **So, while my internet is on the fritz, I've been stockpiling updates. I've written, typed, saved and filed about fifty individual updates (including chapters for in progress and brand new collections, and oneshots). Part of this has been these little drabble collections/word inspired paragraph things. So, I've started doing these for characters/pairings that I don't have much experience as a way to better get into the characters….

So I started this one for Lizwin, because well, I wanted to start the sequel to Careful What You Wish For (which is centered around Edwin and Lizzie) and I realized I don't know their characters well (or the characterization I have for them…cause I've never tried to develop them). I started this…and then completed it…in a day. I wanted to type it and post it right away, but alas I can't so you're probably getting this with a bunch of other updates…like tons. TONS.

Anyway, about this. I tried to differentiate them from Derek and Casey and I'm not sure I did. Cause these little romantic highlights could be for any couple really…I don't know. I think this A/N is longer than the actual drabble thing here. Well, to wrap up, the he and she are Edwin and Lizzie, respectfully, even though I don't use their names. There are five word inspired paragraphs per chapter and this collection has six chapters (30 words/paragraphs). Typically they're not interconnected, but the last two of this one are. Enjoy! R&R! Thanks! –Mac

**Disclaimer: **I don't own LWD. 

**A Dead Giveaway**

**Helping**

When Derek and Casey leave for college, they have to help out around the house more. One day she was at a Tae Kwon Do class and he was helping Nora return laundry to everyone's rooms. While dropping off her clothes, he finds her diary lying out, open, on her bed. He hadn't expected her to keep one, that was more a Casey thing, but there it was. And it was begging to be read. He stands there for ten minutes debating about whether or not he should sneak a peak. Finally, the curiosity became too much and he picks it up. One glimpse of his name in her curly handwriting and he throws it down. He's certain he doesn't want to know what it says. But the little hearts doodled around it were kind of a dead giveaway.

**Vocabulary**

She bought a word a day calendar just for fun, but she finds it really has strengthened her vocabulary. He claims that her using ridiculous words like _atrabilious _and _palaver_ and _indomitable,_ which he can't even pronounce let alone understand, is annoying beyond belief. But when she catches him describing Derek, to one of their friends, as _lascivious_, she knows that while he teased her to no end about the calendar, he actually listened to her and cared that she enjoyed it.

**Ask**

When he decided to propose, he asked Casey to help him pick out a ring, seeing as Casey was probably the one who knew her best. Derek looked put out so he asked his brother if he wanted to tag along. While the three were browsing a jewelry store, Casey asked if he had thought about how he was going to pop the question. He hadn't. He turned to Derek and asked for advice. Casey snorted and told the story of Derek's proposal. He decides he's not going to ask his brother for romantic advice anymore. She's grateful, enough so that she says yes almost immediately.

**Appeal**

During his first week at University, his roommate asks him what his type is, what kind of girl appealed to him. He starts to go into detail about what he liked in a girl. It isn't until he's done that he realizes that he had described _her_ to a tee. When his roommate leaves the room, he quickly dials her number. She doesn't answer, but before he loses his nerve he leaves a message saying he _needed_ to see her. When she meets him for coffee a couple days later, the first thing he asks her is what her type is, what kind of guy appealed to her. She looks at him oddly, but answers shortly, "I don't know, someone like you I guess." That's answer enough for him.

**Sometime**

Before they leave the coffee shop, he stutters out something along the lines of "we should go out sometime." She replies something about how they go out all the time. He has to swallow hard and compose himself to work up the courage to explain what he had really meant. He really wishes that if anything he had Derek's fearlessness when it came to girls. He gets flustered and does the only thing he can think of. He kisses her. And she kisses him back and well that is an even better answer.


	2. Really, It Didn't Matter

Inherits

**A/N: **Here are words six through ten. I realized as I typed these up that for this ship I was either inspired to write completely innocent paragraphs (like inherits) or more mature paragraphs than even the ones I wrote for Dasey in One More Thing I Love even though these are the younger siblings (like uniform and generate). Hmm, I find it interesting, but whatever. Enjoy! R&R! Thanks. –Mac

**Disclaimer: **I don't own LWD.

**Really, It Didn't Matter**

**Inherits**

She inherits Casey's study habits. Much to Nora and George's delight. He inherits Derek's social status. Much to Nora and George's displeasure (and horror). They're afraid they are going to have another Derek and Casey on their hands—and they had just gotten free of the originals. They're not ready for that kind of chaos to reoccupy their home. But she ignores his misbehavior for awhile (in a way Casey never could for Derek) and it only takes her saying once that she didn't like what he had become for him to change (in a way Derek never could for Casey). Nora and George realize that no matter how much they resemble their older siblings, they were two very different people.

**Chose**

He likes to say that he _chose_ her long before they were ever together, that he _knew_ they were meant for each other before either really believed in fate. She likes to laugh it off and say that if he had indeed chosen her then he shouldn't have had to go through so many girls in high school _and_ college, and if he had indeed known they were meant for each other then she wouldn't have had to make the first move. Really it didn't matter because they're in love and they had found each other in the end, chosen or not.

**Uniform**

She's having second thoughts. They're living in an apartment they can barely afford (because they're too proud to ask for help from their parents). He's trying to get his business up and running. She's trying to work to save money for rent and finish her degree. And they've only been married for eighteen months. All those doubts disappear though, when she can come home in her dirty waitress uniform after pulling a double shift and he can still make her feel like the sexiest woman in the world

**Generate**

She threatens to divorce him when he forgets to pay their bills and their heat gets shut off in the _dead of winter_. He smiles sheepishly and shrugs, calling her bluff. Of course, she wouldn't leave him over something so trivial—but it didn't stop her from ignoring him for as long as their apartment felt like an ice box. He tries to make light of the situation, but she is not amused. It isn't until he says "there are more creative ways of generating heat than layering on clothes," that she budges.

**Smiled**

When she announces she's pregnant, he's ecstatic. It's when they begin their registry that the uncertainty begins to gather in the pit of his stomach. Bottles, formula, pacifiers, diapers, strollers, cribs, onesies, booties, mobiles, _breast_ pumps. He realizes he knows nothing, absolutely _nothing_, about babies and parenthood. Lamaze, epidurals, contractions, water breaking, labor. He thinks he's going to have an anxiety attack and pass out in the delivery room. Then he hears his baby cry for the first time and the doctor announces "it's a girl." He knows he's up for anything. When his daughter smiles for the first time, he realizes he's ready to be a father—he had been all along.


	3. Without The Dramatics

Without The Dramatics

**A/N: **Here are words eleven to fifteen. Three more chapters left. Just enjoy! R&R! Thanks. –Mac

**Disclaimer: **I don't own LWD.

**Without The Dramatics**

**Haircut**

He had refused to get his hair cut for the longest time. As a teenage boy, he was very conscious of his appearance—and he was afraid that a barber would only mess up. When Nora finally forces him to get a haircut, his fear is realized. The fact that she has the decency to at least _try_ to hide her laughter when he returns home with his hair nearly all hacked off lifts his spirits. He announces that he is not going to cut his hair again until it has grown down his back. She offers to braid it for him—to prevent tangles—and he smiles.

**Woods**

George and Nora decide that while Derek and Casey are home on break from University that the entire family is going to go on a camping trip. Everything was going fine—if Derek and Casey bickering the entire time and Marti claiming incessantly that she's come in contact with poison ivy can be considered fine—until it starts to rain. His only consolation is that he is sharing a tent with her, and the longer they have to stay sheltered from the rain, the more time alone he gets with her. The rain doesn't let up, and he decides he loves camping.

**Luckily**

Her car breaks down halfway between work and home. She's pretty sure she's had the absolute worst day ever. She started to call him to pick her up when she remembered his cell phone had met an unfortunate demise in his toilet (it's a long story) a couple days prior and a quick glance at her watch tells her he isn't going to be home yet. So, she tries to call her mom. No answer. She leaves a message she's sure no one will get. Then her cell dies. She sits on the curb next to her useless car with her useless phone and tries to work up the nerve to flag down a stranger and risk it being an axe murderer. Luckily, he had to stop in at the old house to pick up a jacket he left the last time he was there. Luckily, he was thirsty and had gone into the kitchen to get a quick drink and saw the flashing number on the answering machine—rather than running back out as soon as he had his jacket as he originally planned. He picks up the message that would have sat for hours before Nora, George and Marti returned home. He's out the door and on his way to her in no time. She's never been happier to see him.

**Frames**

Every time she goes into a store that sells them, she buys a picture frame. He can't fathom why, because they've lived together for five years and he had never seen her use them. But one day he comes home and he finds she found a use for each and every one. They're filled with pictures of them—from when they were kids to the present—and they're on every surface of the house. He is intrigued by one in particular. It's at the center of their mantel, and it's empty. When she wraps her arms around him and brings her lips to his, he knows exactly what picture is meant to fill it.

**Pleasure**

George and Nora loved quietly. They just knew they were loved. Derek and Casey loved loudly. They had to force the passion out of each other so that they knew the love was still there—hence the fighting and fierce way they made up. He and she were of a different breed. It was the small ways that they showed affection that set their love on fire. How she would massage his shoulders as if she instinctively knew he had a rough day. How he would buy her flowers for no reason and would make up some occasion that would make her smile—"I Appreciate Your Choice In New Furniture Day." They took pleasure in showing each other how they felt every second of everyday, without the dramatics.

**A/N2: **As I read this over again, I realized the last line of frames was a little vague. If I hadn't wrote it, I don't think I would have got it….I don't know. It was meant to mean that he was thinking about proposing now, because their wedding picture would be the picture to put at the center of the mantel. Anyway, review please. Thanks! –Mac


	4. Called It Even

**A/N: **Words sixteen through twenty. Enjoy. R&R! Thanks! –Mac

**  
Disclaimer: **I don't own LWD.

**Called It Even**

**Gained**

When his Dad got married to Nora, he lost his privacy, his space, his freedom…it was just different with so many girls in the house. And he felt he had been robbed of the life he had taken for granted. But when his Dad got married, he gained so much more that he had lost. If his Dad hadn't married Nora, he never would have met her—the love of his life. And for that he is eternally grateful. He would feel indebted to his father and Nora, but then again they had inflicted Derek and Casey upon them—so he called it even.

**Vacancy**

For their honeymoon, they had spent a week on a beautiful Hawaiian beach. But that week was up and they were headed home to London. Their flight from Hawaii was perfect, but their connector got delayed and then cancelled. The next flight out wasn't until the next day. They had to scramble to find a hotel with a vacancy, and when they finally did, it wasn't exactly a comfort. They figured that they could live with the dirt and grime, and the fact that the bed was so disgusting that they were sure they would get an STD just from looking at it—it wasn't ideal but they could live with it for…twelve hours. The mouse they find swimming in the toilet is the straw that broke the camel's back. He ran out of there so fast she saw smoke. He yelled something about walking home before he would stay in a hotel room with mice and a thousand other unmentionables. She was completely fine with spending the night in a 24 hour diner drinking a gallon of coffee—it beat walking a few thousand miles.

**Illustrated**

When their school does an illustrated sexual education crash course, they come home traumatized. They can't look at each other for weeks. He keeps flipping through the pamphlets the school passed out and asking his Dad and Nora questions they're not comfortable answering. When they finally shoo him away, he turns to Derek and Casey. Casey falls out of her seat and Derek spits his sip of milk everywhere including back into the bottle. Neither answers. Finally, he goes to her to talk about what they learned. When he walks into her room without knocking, she blushes a deep red but doesn't say a word. He starts talking and soon enough they are having a discussion. Both are red in the face the entire time. That is the last time such intimacy is embarrassing to them.

**Diagnosis**

While away at college miles from home, she is the only one he has to turn to when he has a problem. She likes to play psychologist. She even makes him lay down on her dorm room bed as she pulls up a chair, whips out a legal pad and asks him in an ominous voice "How does that make you feel?" He thinks it's ridiculous, but even with all the dramatics just being able to talk with her lifts all the weight from his shoulders. Even if it doesn't solve his problems, he always feels better afterward.

**Mission**

They made it their mission to figure out what was going on with Derek and Casey. They planned and schemed. He used his skills in stealth to gather intelligence. She organized it all and reviewed. The conclusion they came to on the matter changed everything. It opened up a complete can of worms and a new world of possibilities. Neither he nor she was ready for that. The change in their behavior exhibited that. Derek and Casey made it their _mission_ to figure out what was going on with them.


	5. Something Else Came Up

Reflected

**A/N: **Words twenty one to twenty five. Only one chapter to go. Enjoy. R&R! Thanks! –Mac

**Disclaimer: **I don't own LWD.

**Something Else Came Up**

**Reflected**

It's their wedding day, and as she looks at her reflection in the full length mirror all she can see is everything they've gone through to get to where they were. Their relationship wasn't as tumultuous as Derek's and Casey's, but it had its ups and downs. From the day sh, her sister, and mom moved in to the day he proposed…every moment was reflected back at her. When Casey tells her they're ready to start, she puts on a smile, takes a deep breath and walks toward her future and all the moments that have yet to be.

**Eighteen**

They are sixteen when George and Nora call it quits. They say they're going to call and email and write, and that the only thing that's going to be different is that they're not going to see each other everyday. After two and a half months, the calls become less frequent. After six, they're only getting a stray email every now and again. After a year, they've completely lost touch. Sometimes he misses her so bad it hurts, but he thinks it's better that way. Sometimes she wishes she had never met him because then it wouldn't hurt so bad that he wasn't in her life—but then she remembers the good times. They both know they could have done more. Derek and Casey did. They were eighteen when the see each other again for the first time. They're going to the same university and were assigned the same dorm building. They're a floor apart again, and it's like everything is back to normal when he smiles at her and she hugs him excitedly.

**Obsessing**

She's going on her first date and she's obsessing about how she looks and if her outfit is right for a movie and if her hair looks alright and if she should curl it or just leave it straight. Nora tells her not to worry. Casey says it will all be fine. George hums as if he is oblivious to the fact that Lizzie and a teenage boy are going to be alone together in a darkened theater. Marti smiles and says purple looks good on her. Derek ruffles her hair and wishes her luck—and she spends thirty minutes putting her hair back into place. He says she looks beautiful and her heart skips a beat. She calls her date and cancels. "Something else came up."

**Vet**

The first thing she does when she gets her own place is find a dog at the pound for herself. She says it's to keep her company, but he knows it's because no one would have taken that particular do if the were paid. It was old to begin with and a touch overweight. It waddled around her house. But it was the most playful dog he had come in contact with despite its limitations. Just like her she gets too attached, and she is devastated when the old mongrel gets sick. He offers to go with her to the vet. She tells him he doesn't have to. "It's only a dog." But he knows to her it's not just a dog, and goes anyway. She cries when it's done and he holds her. He wonders that if she can love a dog that much what it would feel like to have her love him. He sets out to find out.

**Claims**

They get an apartment together during their sophomore year of college. Because why should George and Nora spring for two apartments when they were going to the same school and they spend all their time together anyway. After a few months, she's starting to think living with him again isn't such a good idea. Every time she goes on a date, he knows it—because the guys always pick her up from _their_ apartment. It's not so much that he knows, because he's always known. He's the only person she talks to about that sort of thing with her mom in London and Casey in New York, both too far away for immediate response. It's the fact that he's there when she comes home. Just _there_. Right where she sees him as she comes in the door. It was bad enough that all through high school she had to cope with her feelings for him and for the past year she had been going out with guys trying to move on from the impossible she never attempted to make possible. But now he is there 24/7, right across the hall, and he _hates _the guys she dates. Claiming they're not right for her. She wants to say, "If they're so wrong, then why don't you claim me for yourself." But she doesn't.


	6. She Was The Someone Else On His Mind

Varied

**A/N: **Here are the last five words. I think you might notice a small connection with the first word here and the very first word of this collection. This is now complete. On to other things. Enjoy! R&R! Thanks. –Mac

**Disclaimer: **I don't own LWD.

**She Was Always The Someone Else On His Mind**

**Varied**

The story of how they got together seems to vary depending on who is telling it. Derek maintains that they had been together for years in secret. Casey will push him playfully and chide him about how they're not _them_. George and Nora refuse to believe the relationship started until after they were out of the house and in college. She says that he got a look at her diary and that's what put everything in motion—which he denies vehemently. He says gradually they got closer and closer until there was nothing left to do but get together. And they're all okay with that explanation—though Derek still likes to exclaim that that had a secret affair that they don't want to admit to.

**Super**

Once Marti had played superhero. He had asked what her super power was. Marti announced she had X-Ray Vision. Then Marti asked him what he would want his superhero power to be. He said invisibility. Now, as he's down on one knee in front of her, he changes his mind. He really wishes he had super mind reading abilities so he could see what she had going through her head. Because his stomach is in knots and she hasn't answered yet…and he wants to know what she's thinking…but when she finally says yes, all thoughts of superpowers disappear.

**Bitter**

His girlfriend of two years, six months, and ten days breaks up with him. Instead of dealing with it like a rational adult, he locks himself in his apartment, turns off his cell and rips his phone out of the wall. After a week of not being able to get a hold of him, she barges in (he regrets telling her where he hid the spare key). She starts to lecture him about moving on and how there was a certain way to handle things. He says he couldn't care less what she had to say and that as for moving on , he doesn't believe in love anymore. She calls him cynical and bitter. He scoffs. She laughs at him, says it's pathetic to cut himself off from the world over a girl. He counters with a statement about how she wouldn't know anything about relationships since she had never really had one, "I can't wonder why," he chuckles cruelly. She slaps him. He kisses her. She kisses back. He understands, finally, what his ex-girlfriend meant about him always having someone else on his mind.

**Boat**

The whole family goes on a cruise. The stuff they took to prevent seasickness obviously didn't work on him because he spends the entire week locked in his cabin too sick to move. Although he tells her to go enjoy herself, that he'll be fine by himself, she spends the whole time by his side. She says its because she wouldn't have fun without him anyway, and she wasn't going to let him subject her to Casey and Derek's bickering alone—but really she's worried about him and she feels better being right next to him. He really doesn't mind as much as he says, because knowing she cares makes him feel happy. Amongst other things. Things she was feeling too. She cracks a joke about kissing it better and he freezes. She hadn't been serious, but maybe she should have because when she does kiss him, he begins to feel _a lot_ better.

**Clarifies**

She takes a page out of Casey's book when she decides to tell him how she feels about him. She rambles on for a good ten minutes and he can't make heads or tails of what she's saying. So he takes a page out of Derek's book and covers her lips with his to silence her. When they break apart breathless and both smiling widely, he says, "So just to clarify things…you like me right?" She answers him with another kiss.


End file.
